Lucky Surprise
by Jediempress
Summary: Sora's off on a mission, leaving behind a rather angry girlfriend. As he worries about what will happen when he returns, he thinks about how lucky he truly is. SoraPenelo. Prize-fic for shroudedobsession. COMPLETE.


This is shrouded-obsession's prize-fic for being the first to name all three cameos in Gang. Please, please, please let me know how I did with this because it was very new for me and I only know the bare bones about XII. I hope you enjoy this.

Again, I can only dream I own these characters.

Lucky Surprise

Sora leaned back in the seat as the Gummi ship jumped into warp. Ever since Riku had called and asked him to come help him with whatever assignment the King had given him, he had been worried. It had to be something big if Riku needed his assistance.

Penelo had not been happy when he said he had to leave. She had been even less happy when he said she could not come with. He had tried explaining to her all the reasons why he did not want her to come along and she had come up with a solid counterargument to every one.

Finally, he had put his foot down and flat out told her he was going alone and that was that. Penelo had turned and stormed off. He knew he was going to pay for that. That was, if she did not simply break up with him.

With a heavy sigh, he settled into his chair. He had recently come to realize that he truly loved the blonde. She had a vibrant personality, fierce determination and a strong sense of loyalty. She complimented him in ways no one else did and he could not believe his luck that he had found her.

He had first caught sight of the girl in the Marketplace as he was walking through with Yuffie. She had been one of the new arrivals, sent over from Traverse Town with a few others from her world. She was chastising the blond male with her about something in front of the Item shop.

Though her expression had been stern, there was a light tone to her voice and a softness to her eyes. The boy with her acted as if he could have cared less about what she was saying but it was fairly obvious that he was listening intently. Just watching them, Sora knew they were close.

He had become so focused on her; he had walked straight into a streetlamp.

Yuffie of course had found this hysterical and to this day teased him about it. As he scowled at her and rubbed at his forehead, he managed a quick glance over and found the subject of his attention looking at him curiously. She had smiled a bit before turning back to the boy, smacking his arm and walking off with him.

He decided right then and there that he had to know who she was.

A few days later, he and Riku were cutting through the market and he spotted the girl again. She was working behind the counter at the noodle shop. He asked Riku if he knew who she was and when the older one said no, Sora decided to take the initiative and ask her. They had lunch at the shop, even though Sora had eaten earlier, and Sora made it a point try starting a conversation.

She was friendly enough but it was clear she wanted to focus on her work so Sora gave up and, with a bright smile, went to a table with Riku. After nearly ten minutes, he heard Riku laugh and realized that he had not touched his ramen nor even acknowledged that Riku was there with him. He had simply been watching the girl.

All Riku had to say was that Sora had better not expect him to come to the shop everyday just to see her.

That evening, as Sora was skateboarding around the bailey, he heard sounds of a skirmish. Instantly on alert, he flipped the board up and headed over to where the noise was coming from. He paused just outside the alley behind the noodle shop, listening for a moment before running in to help whoever was being attacked.

However, the moment he appeared, the would-be attacker crumpled to the ground and the blonde Sora had been fixating on for days began straightening her clothes. She looked over at him, barely tousled from the altercation. With a light smile, she simply said, "I'm fine, thanks."

Sora was fairly certain that was the point of no return for him.

They finally exchanged names, along with a fair share of jabs at one another's expense, and once Sora felt comfortable, he nervously asked her about the boy he had first seen with her. Penelo laughed, waving her hand and explaining that he was just an old friend of hers, practically a brother. She then floored Sora by asking if _he_ wanted to go out sometime.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Leaning his head back, he stared at the ceiling of the ship. This was the first time he had to go off to do Keybearer stuff since they got together. He had dreaded this happening, knowing Penelo would not be content to be left behind. He knew that she was more than capable of handling herself in a fight but he simply did not want her to be tangled up in anything dangerous.

Sometimes it was annoying how much like him she was. When he got back, he was going to have to do some major pleading and grovelling to get back in her good graces. Why couldn't he have fallen for someone more like Cloud who, even though he despised the times Riku had to leave, did not get angry about being left behind.

There was a thumping noise and Sora abruptly straightened out. He looked at the displays and upon seeing nothing amiss, frowned. Maybe he was hearing things.

Another noise came, this one more like something being pushed against forcefully. He stood up and turned toward one of the two storage lockers behind the flight deck. There was a slight out-denting to the middle one's door. It looked like the type of thing that came from someone ramming a shoulder into…

There was another bang and the door jarred open, a thin mass of tan, blue, and blonde tumbling out. Sora could only stare in stunned silence and Penelo climbed to her feet and brushed herself off. Tugging at her braided hair, she grinned brightly at the boy. "Surprise."

"What are you…?" Sora asked dumbly.

"I told you, I want to help." She folded her arms. "And from what I've heard from Leon, you'll need it."

Sora rolled his eyes in irritation. "I can do just fine on my own. I freakin' saved Kingdom Hearts twice!"

"Yeah, and you had a lot of help doing it. Even from your own stories, you kinda stumbled through a lot of it. If it hadn't been for everyone supporting you, how far to you really thing you would have gotten?"

The brunet scratched at his head. "Well, I guess a lot if it kinda was luck but I still managed a lot on my own."

His girlfriend nodded. "I know Riku set up a lot of things for you behind the scenes."

"Yeah, he's definitely the thinking part of the team." Sora suddenly angled his head in thought. "You know, a lot of what happened was less luck than Riku laying out the path."

"Exactly; Now, since it's Riku you're looking for, you need someone to think things out in his place," laughing a bit, she patted the side of his face. "So you get me."

Sora bit his lip. "I don't want to risk you getting hurt, Penelo."

Her expression hardened. "I told you, Sora. I'm not going to get hurt and even if I do, that's my choice to make. I want to be with you and make sure _you_ don't get hurt."

"I'm not going to…" He trailed off. It was pointless to argue about this again. She was here now and much as it terrified him that something might happen to her, he was extremely happy that she was. He offered a weak grin. "I guess a little planning can't hurt, huh?"

"Nope, and if that's not enough for you," Penelo stepped up to him and gave him a light kiss on the lips. "Think of me as a good luck charm."

She brushed by him and dropped herself into the co-pilot's seat. After a moment of glancing over the controls, she began resetting the navi-gummi. "Why are you taking this route? It's so much longer. Honestly, has anyone taught you anything about navigation? If we go along the asteroid belt, we'll shave a good two hours off of our trip."

Sora looked after her, a new feeling of warmth and admiration sweeping over him. He really did love this girl. With great affection, he walked over and touched her shoulder. When she glanced up, he simply bent over and kissed her deeply.

He then sat in his own chair and watched as she finished making the adjustments. Yeah, he was definitely one of the luckiest guys in the worlds.


End file.
